


Broken Paths

by zinikornis



Category: Black Widow (Movie 2020), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Origin Story, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27384508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinikornis/pseuds/zinikornis
Summary: She's here to be trained to be a weapon.He's here to kill on orders, without his approval. Then they find peace.That's it. Have fun!
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Kudos: 5





	Broken Paths

**Author's Note:**

> Magyarul: https://andweweremadlyinlove.blogspot.com/2017/02/broken-paths-magyar.html

Наталья Романова, Natalia Romanova.

She’s here to be trained. She isn’t qualified for anything. She’s only good for killing. Nobody notices women. She will be perfect for the job.

Just like all the others.

There are 28 of them. She’s just one of the many. She’s not special. Once another girl defeats her, she’s nothing. No one will care.

So she keeps her head up, she trains hard and she keeps beating the other girls. Once she’s defeated all of them, she will be perfect for the job.

For what job, she doesn’t know yet. But she doesn’t have a choice. It’s what she got from life. She’ll make the most out of it.

They call him _the Winter Soldier_. They say he’s dangerous. They say he’s lost his mind or never had any. They say he was captured, that he’s not in control of his actions.

They don’t say it to Natalia, of course. But they’ve made her this perfect spy she is, so she uses her skills when she thinks it would benefit her.

They also say this Winter Soldier must be killed. Since they said all those things about him not being responsible for his own actions, Natalia thinks he should live. But they never ask her for her opinion when they send her out to kill. So Natalia kills without knowing anything about her victims.

She has to kill the Winter Soldier; he will be the new faceless body in her closet. That’s how they decided.

She’s not supposed to know anything about him, except that he’s a bad guy who shoots at everything that moves. And he always finishes what he’d started.

“He’s no good. Better dead.”

She knows she has to do as she’s been told. On the other hand, she knows it’s not the real him. It’s something they’ve made of him.

She always promises herself she wouldn’t overhear things like this. But then she always does.

She doesn’t ask and she doesn’t speak though. She’s done it before. She’s a professional. It’s not her job to speak.

She goes and tries to kill him. It seems he’s prepared. It seems he’s an alright guy. She knows she shouldn’t kill him. So she stops trying. She speaks instead.

*******

Зимний Солдат, the Winter Soldier.

He’s here to kill, only who, where and when they order him so. He must not go against orders; he knows what he gets then. He must not back away from missions; he knows what he gets then. He must obey, all the time and every time; he knows he gets nothing then.

It’s better when he obeys.

He also knows he must tell them everything that happens. That’s why he tells them he knew the guy he met on mission.

“But I knew him,” he insists. They must know. He must tell them.

He gets what he usually gets. He barely remembers anything after it.

“I’m with you ‘til the end of the line.”

He - Steve, as he said - called him _Bucky_.

It feels like his brain is itching. Like if memories would want to come up but he couldn’t really recall them. Probably it was the case.

He’s trying.

He doesn’t tell them about it.

He knows– he thinks what they do is not good. He wants to escape.

He’s here to kill, only who, where and when they order him so. He must not go against orders; he knows what he gets then. He must not back away from missions; he knows what he gets then. He must obey, all the time and every time; he knows he gets nothing then.

It’s better when he obeys.

He must tell them everything.

They did that thing to his brain again.

He’s not experienced this before. He remembers. Not much, but he does remember the “I’m with you ‘til the end of the line” sentence, and he also remembers being called another name…

He looks for this guy, he looks everywhere he can.

He finds the guy. He calls him Bucky.

Then they, too, do that thing to his brain. But he remembers _more_ after this one.

Steve - he knows his name! - keeps telling him that he would be alright again. They’ll work it out, together. Bucky only has to focus on getting better.

*******

“I’m sorry to break it to you,” Natasha said, “but they don’t serve tea here, Mr. England.”

“I am not _that_ into tea,” Steve stated. “I just asked.”

“But what kind of place doesn’t serve tea?” Clint pointed out.

“Thank you! See?”

“Yeah, tea’s a worldwide thing,” Bruce added, just so he could add something to the conversation.

“But it’s a coffee bar.” Tony said. “All you get here is coffee and cookie. It’s obvious. Or was is different in your time, grandpa?”

“Actually, coffee houses were totally different…” Steve started his tale.

“Okay, okay,” Natasha cut him off. “It’s not the time for a bedtime story yet.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, does it bother you that I lived a longer life than you did but I look the same?”

“Why would it bother me? Because I’m a woman, so I only care about my looks?”

“I did _not_ mean it that way and you know that.”

“Alright, this conversation took an unexpected turn,” Clint said quickly before Natasha could answer. “Could we _please_ change the subject?”

“My espresso’s pretty good, anyone wants a sip?” Tony suggested.

They all sat in a booth. Nat and Clint were next to each other, such as Steve and Bucky. Tony sat at the end of the seat, waiting for Pepper, who should show up any time now. (She had to take care of some files first, she said on the phone.)

They chatted along while Bucky snuggled up to Steve in the corner. He rested his head on his lover’s shoulder. Steve kissed the top of Bucky’s head and put his arm around him.

It took a long while for Bucky to recover. He still has things to work out, yes, but he does much better now. Most importantly, he’s found his way back to Steve, made friends and is getting back his sense of wrong and right. That’s quite an improvement for sure.

Natasha’s had it a bit easier. Maybe she wasn’t brainwashed but it’s very hard to get rid of something they’ve been teaching you since you were a child. But she’s done it; made a decision and stuck to it. She’s still sticking to it.

He’s won his life and love back.

She’s got friends and is appreciated.

In the end, they were fine. Happy, even.

A feeling she could’ve never dreamed of. A feeling he didn’t remember for a long time.

She holds Clint’s hand and smiles at Bucky.

He kisses Steve’s neck and smiles at Natasha.


End file.
